Alla is the primary adversative conjunction of the Greek New Testament, appearing 644 times to mark sharp contrasts and corrections. Derived from the neuter plural of allos ('other'), it carries a force stronger than the milder de. Its range runs from simple opposition ('not bread alone, but every word of God,' Matt 4:4) to emphatic reversal ('on the contrary'). In Pauline rhetoric especially, alla drives the argumentative pivot — 'not by works, but by grace.' The translations confirm this unified adversative sense: Spanish 'pero/sino,' French 'mais,' German 'sondern' — each capturing the corrective thrust.